Sliding-door check



AJ. F. OCONNOR.

SLIDING DOOR CHECK.

APPLICATION FILED APILS, 1919.y

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

UNITED STATES OFFICE.

JOI-IN F. OCONNOR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR r'IO.WIIL|LIA1VI H.MINER, OF

kCHAZY, NEW YORK.

sLIDING-noon CHECK.v

Specication of Letters Patent. Patented Ot. 19, 1920.

Application mea April s, 1919. serial No. 287,172.

To all whom t mayy concern Be it known that I, JOHN F. OCoNNoR, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county'of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in 'Sliding-Door Checks, of which the following is a full,clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification..

This invention relates to improvements 1n sliding door checks.

In the operation of railway baggagecars, many accidents have occurred tothe baggage-men due to the sudden and unrestricted movement of thesliding side doors to close position while the baggagesmen happen to bestanding in thev doorway., As, of course, is `well known, thebaggage-man opens the side door on the side of the car` on which thestation being approached is located and remains in the doorway,ordinarily, until the train is brought to a stop at the station.-Frequently the speed of the train is suddenly varied, either while beingbrought to restor while being started, with the result that the momentumof the sliding door is increased, and the same, being usually of greatweight, catches the baggage-man, or some part of his body,lbetween thesliding door and the door post.

The object of my invention is to provide an inexpensiveA and simplearrangement capable of application to old baggage-cars now in service,as well as to new ones, which will automatically and effectively preventunintentional slamming or sudden movements of the door toward closeposition, while readily -permitting opening movements of the door.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification,'Figure 1 is aninside view of a portion of a baggage-car showing my improvements inconnection with a sliding side door thereof, the door being shown inclosed position.` Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view takensubstantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. And Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In said drawing, the side wall ofthe baggage-car is indicated at 10 andin which is provided a side door opening defined by the floor or treadplate 11, side posts 12-12 and lintel 13. The sliding door is indicatedgenerally by the reference A, and, as is customary., slides on the innerside of the car wall, the opening movement of the door being limited byany suitable means-such as a stop 14-andjthe closing movement-by acorresponding ystop 15', with` which ,the vertical edges of the door areadaptedto engage. The door A is supported from a horizontally extendingrail or track 16 mounted onthe inner side of the car wall and above thedoor opening. The door is provided with preferably a pair.y of rollerbrackets 17-17 carrying grooved rollers 18 that ride Aupon the track 16in a well-known manner.

Attention is directed to the fact that the support of the door is suchthat the door will tend to swing about the track 16 in a vdirectiontoward the outside of the car; in other words, the door iskeccentrically hung with a tendency to Vswing from the vertical, asclearly indicated in Fig. 3, and the object for which will appearhereinafter.

To prevent sudden iand unintentional closing of the door after it hasbeen moved to a full open` or ypart open position, I provide a rack 19on the inner face ofthecar wall and a corresponding cooperating rack 2Oon the outer side of thedoor A. Theracks 19 land 20 are preferablylocated near the bottom of the door, as shown in Figs. 1 and kr3;The'teeth 21 of the two racks yare so arranged that they interlock whenythe door A moves .to the left or to close position, as viewed inFig. 1. The teeth will readily 'permit the door A to be moved to theleft,

as viewed in Fig. 1-that is, during the opening movement. Preferably therack 19 projects inwardly from the surface of the car wall, whereas therack 20 aixed to the door A is counter-sunk therein.

With the construction above described, and bearing in mind the fact thatthe door tends to have the lower edge thereof swing outwardly, the racks19 and 20 will automatically and uniformly engage so as to preventmovement of the door A to the left as viewed in Fig. 1, and thisregardless of the position of the door A, since thel racks 19 and 20 areof a length corresponding to the width of the door. Consequently, if thebaggage-man has left the door A partly open, or fully o en, and themovement of the train is suc as to induce a closing movement of the doorA, the same cannot take place because of the coperation of theframework,

racks 19 and 20. In order to effect the closing movement of the door, itis merely necessary for the baggage-man to grasp the handle 22, locatednear the forward edge of the door, and by which he can eXert asufficient force to swing the lower edge of the door inwardly and therack 2() thereof clear of the rack 19. The opening movement of the door,of course, is not interfered with by the racks 19 and 20.

Although l have herein shown and de-` scribed what I now consider thepreferred manner of carrying out the invention, the same is merelyillustrative andI contemplate all changes and modifications which comewithin the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In combination with a member having a door opening and surroundingframework and a horizontally slidable door for closing said opening,means for preventing the door from accidentally moving freely to itsclosed position, said means including coperating projections on the doorand framework adapted to engage and lock the door against movementtoward its closed position when the door is in its normal proximity tosaid the doorV being adapted for manual adjustment laterally from itssaid normal proximity to the framework into a position where saidprojections clear each other and permit free movement of the door toclosed position.

2. In combination with a member having a door opening and surroundingframework and a horizontally slidable door, means for preventing thedoorfrom accidentally moving freely to its closed position, said meansincluding a toothed rack on the framework and an opposed cooperatingtoothed rack on the door, the racks being adapted to automaticallyinterlock when the door is moved toward closed position and while thedoor is normally supported.

direction when 3. In a baggage-car having a side door opening, thecombination with a sliding door for closing said opening, of an upperdoor supporting track, roller supporting brackets by which said door issuspended from the track, the door being eccentrically mounted withrespect to the track and adapted to have the lower edge of the doornormally swing toward the outside of the car, and co-operatingprojections on the door and wall of the car adapted to engage and lockthe door against movement in a closing direction when the door issuspended in its normal eccentric position, the door being adapted formanual adjustment laterally to a position where the said projections areclear of each other to thereby permit the door to be freely moved toclosed position. Y

4. In a baggage-car having a side door opening, the combination with asliding door for closing said opening, of an upper door supportingtrack, roller supporting brackets by which said door is suspended fromthe track, the door beingr eccentrically mounted with respect to thetrack and adapted to have the lower edge of the door normally swingtoward the outside of the car, and cooperating projections on the doorand wall of the car adapted to engage and lock the door against movementin a closing the door is suspended in its normal' eccentrici position,the door being adapted for manual adjustment laterally to a positionwhere the said lprojections are clear of each other to thereby permitthe door to be freely moved to closed position, said cooperatingprojections comprising two racks mounted respectively on the car walland door near the bottom of the latter.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 15th day of Mar. 1919.

JOHN F. OCONNOR.

